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Trained in Chandigarh, 13-year-old boxer makes it to Indian team

Earlier this year, Aryan had claimed the gold medal in Chandigarh State Boxing Championship, which assured him a ticket for the nationals.

Aryan and coach Vikas Dahiya after winning a gold medal and ‘Best Boxer’s’ trophy at Rohtak. (Express photo)

A native of Bhatgaon village in Sonipat, 13-year-old boxer, Aryan, has been living away from his family for the last four years. Initially trained at Jai Balaji Sports Academy in Gohana at Haryana, for the last 20 months, the boxer has been training under coach Vikas Dahiya at Chandigarh and staying at Burail with the coach.

On Monday, as Aryan won the title in the 37 Kg category and also claimed the best boxer trophy in the first Sub-Junior Boys Boxing Nationals played at Rohtak, the youngster called his parents and told them about his biggest achievment so far.

“I started boxing on the insistence of my father, Tilak Raj, who was tired of my mischievous acts in our village. The boxing academy at Gohana, where my coach Vikas Dahiya worked, was more than 20 kms from our village and I stayed at the hostel for training. In 2017, I shifted to Chandigarh for training under Vikas sir. It has been a tough four years, staying away from my family. However, today’s gold medal made me forget all those days. The trophy for the best boxer is the best trophy for my parents,” said an emotional Aryan, who idolises Mike Tyson and Vijender Singh.

The Chandigarh boxer carved out a narrow 3-2 win over Nikhil Kumar of Services in the Boys’ 37 Kg finals in the boxing nationals. The tournament, organised by Boxing India, was the first national tournament, in the sub-junior category in over a decade.

Earlier this year, Aryan had claimed the gold medal in Chandigarh State Boxing Championship, which assured him a ticket for the nationals. Monday’s title win also meant that the Chandigarh boxer, who is a student of class nine in The British School, Chandigarh, will also be selected for the Indian team which will compete in international tournaments. He will join the national camp at Rohtak from July 15.

“When he first came to train under me, Aryan would observe fellow boxers closely and try the moves. When I shifted to Chandigarh, Aryan too shifted. His only focus has been boxing. His strength is his accuracy and attacking style, which he showed in today’s finals. Such wins will motivate Aryan a lot. The more he faces the international boxers at this stage, the more he will improve,” says coach Dahiya.

At Aryan’s home at Bhatgaon village, father Tilak Raj, who is a head constable with BSF, and mother Asha are waiting for their son to return with the gold medal. “Even though it means staying away from family, Aryan only dreamt about boxing and winning medals. Whenever he comes home, he asks his mother to prepare lot of churma to take with him and this time too, he will ask the same. The best boxer trophy is the biggest reward for us,” said Tilak Raj.